Quick...what's that blooming tree in the picture above?
It's nice to be able to indentify plants on the go. It's not only helpful when you see something that would go great in your garden but is also a nifty parlor trick.
Sometimes, Nature likes to play it's own party trick on us by making plants very similar but different at the same time. That is the case with the Orchid Tree and the Trumpet Tree.
From a distance, these two trees are basically identical. I know I'd find myself saying "what a nice orchid tree that is," only to find out it was something else. Looking at the trees above, can you tell? They are different.
Upon closer look, the blooms give it away. The orchid tree is not an actual orchid but the flowers look very similar. There is the 5-petal, fan shaped arrangement but is missing the usual lip of an orchid, which is actually a 6th petal that is modified as a pollinator attractor.
If the orchid tree flower looks like an orchid, what do you think the trumpet tree's flower looks like? That's right, it's trumpet shaped and a close up look gives it away. It looks like a trumpet bell with a frilly fringe on it.
When you see something you think you know, be sure to take a closer look. It just might be something else. Oh, the trees above? The orchid tree...or Bauhinia...is at the top. The trumpet tree...or Handroanthus...is the second one.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Look who's stopping by the garden this week...
Above is a hooded oriole. We get these visitors each March and they usually stay till September. Migrating up from Mexico, they really like the sweet. We look forward to them every year but the hummingbirds wish we had a more secure border...they don't care for the orioles hogging up their feeders.
Speaking of hummingbirds, we had three different kinds this week.
Here's an Anna's hummingbird, a year round local in our yard.
This black chinned hummingbird is a bit more rare and only seen during the warmer months.
The Allen's hummingbird is very aggressive and thinks the backyard belongs to him. Here he is in full warrior mode.
Not quite in our yard but in the park a block away is this guy, the red whiskered bulbul. Our research indicates that they are escaped pets here in the U.S.
Also at the park, this western tanager is a colorful spring and summer visitor but rarely makes it down the block to our garden.
Looking over the whole affair is this turkey vulture, a very common bird around here.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Not a lot to do on the gardening front this weekend as clouds moved in for a spring shower. Deadheading a few roses, mowing the lawn...not the most visual or interesting chore to talk about (although it is good exercize), sweeping, and fertilizing.
Still, this gives me more time to just enjoy the garden, look around, and take stock of where we're at.
There are a lot of things about to happen, as evidenced by the little flower buds popping up here and there. The corn stalks are shooting up flowers, it won't be long till we see some ears developing along the sides.
The grape vine is in full bloom. Not spectacular flowers, hard to even see, but it'll be much nicer when these polinated blooms mature into delicious fruit. It's looking good right now but there'll be a battle coming up on to fronts...the animals that like to eat the grapes and the fungus that'll destroy them if I don't treat at just the right time.
Chiles getting ready to bloom. No problems here, just waiting for all that flavor to be ready to pick.
Squash blossom...zucchini and summer squash will be very dandy when they come up.
A little beyond the flowering stage, our citrus is now showing tiny, little fruits.
The guava tree is showing a ton of blooms. This has been a rehabilitation project for us. We used to have it in a container and winds kept blowing it over. We moved it into the ground but haven't had any fruit for three seasons. We're crossing our fingers because we haven't seen this many buds on it for a long time either.
Lastly, on the beauty front, these little buds will open up to the very fragrant and pretty plumeria flowers soon.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
We've been on an island in the Caribbean for a week, it's always interesting to see what the garden's been doing while we've been away. To start, the last cymbidium of the season bloomed, this yellow one above.
The zucchini plants will keep their place as the first to be harvested, I'm sure, but the radishes are also giving them a run for their money.
Our cornfield has grown a foot while we've been gone.
This hanging dendrobium is really doing well.
The plants have been behaving well but the weeds are sneaking back in. A pinch at the base of the plant is all it takes to get it out, roots and all.
This single rose has really broken out the blooms...
...but it looks like another deadheading session is in this weekend's plans.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Not too much gardening at home this week because we're away in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here is some of the island flora...
Above, is the island's chestnut tree.
This is a flower from the trumpet vine that looks like a wisteria with huge flowers.
A red flower from the succulent planter outside of our room. I can't remember the name, anybody know?
The fruit on the calabash tree. They make maracas out of this fruit.
This is a dried up flower from the calabash tree.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Along with the joy of gardening...being outdoors with nature, letting the stresses of everyday life melt away to pruning and watering, seeing the literal fruits of your labors...there are also some tangible, physical benefits.
Not only does it help with providing cheap, delicious food for the table and a beautiful living environment, gardening helps get us in shape and stay healthy.
I'm talking exercise. Gardening is a great way to get your required dose of it. Let's just look at some of the numbers...
Mowing the lawn, not my favorite chore, needs to be done on a regular basis. That means every two weeks for me. On average, it burns about 250 calories per hour.
Tilling the garden is something I do over several weekends at the beginning of the gardening season to prepare the soil. Digging consumes about 350 calories per hour and is also a great way to strengthen arm, leg, and back muscles.
Pruning and harvesting burn about 150 calories per hour and can go up to 350 per hour for trees and large branches.
After we finish gardening, sweeping is in order for a cleanup. This last chore will burn around 275 calories per hour.
If you're wondering, a typical one-hour aerobics class burns around 565 calories in comparison.
Go ahead and get out to the garden this week and have a good workout.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Images are public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
One of the all-time easy to grow orchids are dendrobiums. They're also very beautiful, giving you more bang for the buck than any orchid I can think of.
Since they're epiphytic, they grow exceeding well in soil that is composed solely of bark chips.
You can grow them in a pot, like our fragrant dendrobium kingiana above...
or in a hanging basket, like this white dendbrobium.
Ours easily handle several night of 28 degree temperature each year with no ill effects at all and they grow like weeds. I divide or repot them every three years and the cuttings easily grow into new blooming plants themselves.
I said they were among the easiest to grow, here is the easiest orchid to grow, our bletilla orchid now in bloom too. 2 months of gorgeous blooms every year and I do absolutely nothing...nothing...to take care of them. They just pop up at the end of winter, bloom through spring, and go dormant in fall.
You can see my post on bletilla culture here.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
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